Timeshift Gearshift
by NCommander
Summary: Years have past since Kiva's arrival to the 20th century. The Glorft appears to have been defeated, and while timeshifting is still not possible, there is still appears to be hope for the future. That is until Kiva is taken ...
1. Living in the Moment

Disclaimer: I don't own Megas XLR.

A/N: Ok, this story going to get pretty dark, and I don't intend to change that much. Expect the darkness to really start after Chapter 3-4. Also, any constructive criticisms/corrections are welcome. Flames will be used to heat my house :-)

Chapter 1: Living in the Moment

The sun was just setting on the horizon as Kiva climb the stairs to the small room over Coop's garage. She could hear Coop and Jamie saying good-bye on the street below, and the front door of Coop's home slammed shut. Not wasting any time, Kiva plopped down onto the small bed propped against the wall, and suddenly felt very tired, which was understandable. Going to one of those "rock concerts" was very exhausting, although this time Coop actually got his nachos, and not the Glorth. At least she now knew, thanks to Jamie, who pushed her, why Coop wanted to try the mosh pit; it was a very interesting experience. And although she'd never admit it to Coop or Jamie, she did have some fun, although she couldn't hear the music at all. Light was streaming in from the window across the room, and bathed everything in reds and yellows.

"Sunsets here are so different ..."

Although Kiva was born on Earth, she grew up on one of the colonies, and lived there until she was roughly 5-6. Although most of her memories from that time was blurred together, she did remember seeing the sunset, because the window in her was facing the west, but there, they were mostly purplish-green, not red and orange Even after two and half years living in 20th century Earth, things as simple as a sunset amazed her.

Kiva, who was already drifting into sleep suddenly opened her eyes. It had just seemed like yesterday she met Coop ... and lost to him in combat. Accepting the fact that Coop, who is basically a fat geek who spends all of his time on cars, games, and now Megas, easily out piloted her was a serious blow to her ego. In her time, she was the best of the best of Earth, and had only ever lost to Gorrath in one on one combat. However, seeing Gorrath retreat like that after that first battle ... well, she basically needed to have her eyes checked considering that he was easily the best pilot in her time and easily blew any enemy forces out of the sky with ease.

Although after the defating both herself and Gorrath, she thought it might have been a fluke, but seeing Coop taking down enemy mechs time and again convinced her that he had some serious talent. Which was good, considering with all of modifications done to Megas have left it in a state that only Coop knows how to operate it. How he learned to modify Megas like that, however, remains an unanswered question, since he pretty much created a new control system out of junk for a technology that extremely advanced, even in her own time. Coop was one of a kind, and Kiva was incredibly lucky to meet him.

She paused, letting that thought repeat in her mind, before getting up and shifting into a sitting position. It was at this moment where Kiva really thought about just how those last two years had changed her. For instance, she rarely wore her combat suit, which was hanging in the closet, and was currently wearing the shredded top and jeans she normally wore when she went to a rock concerts.

Turning to look at the mirror on her desk, her own reflection staring back to her. She had let her hair grow out, and it was currently tied into a ponytail, which totally covered the data port on the back of her neck. Coop and Jamie never said anything about it, but she' had sometimes noticed, that when in public, people were staring oddly at the back of her neck, which made her feel a bit self-conscious. Originally, this never bothered her, but as time passed, she just wished to fit in and stop getting odd looks.

As she thought about it, she had changed after all this time. She usually only critized Coop now when he did something extremely stupid, and had learned to enjoy many of this Earth's customs. Letting her mind wander, she remembered the first Christmas she experienced here. Although she had learned that it was based on religion, and Kiva was an atheist, Coop still gave her a gift, which was a small figurine of Megas which he apparently made out of scrap metal fused together and painted. It was very unexpected of Coop, and it was really the first gift she could remember receiving.

Shifting away from that memory, Kiva walked over the window over the garage door below, and looked over New Jersey and resumed thinking. As she looked over New Jersey, it struck her as highly ironic that she had considered Coop and Jamie nothing more then primitives, yet here she was, trying to emulate them as best as possible. The truth of it was, that Kiva had actually accepted the fact that there was a very slim chance of her ever seeing the future again. Even though Kiva had built a time flux control unit now, a time portal would not stabilize, meaning that Megas could exit at any time period. Due to the fact that the Megas exited at a different time then herself and the Glorft seems to suggest that the original time portal itself was unstable. This leads to the likely fact that the time drive never worked correctly, and ... return to the future with it was impossible.

As the twilight sunk into the night, she let her mind drift again. Even if she couldn't return, was that such a horrible thing? The question repeated in her mind, the solider half of her saying yes, but the human side of her said no. Earth was gone in her time, nothing but a shell of what it once was, and ... she had to stop thinking like this, it wasn't right for a solider.

"..."

Now what ...

That was the one thought that kept repeating in her mind now, and she was getting sick of it. Returning to the small bed and lying down, she finally reached her resolve. She would stay in this time, and continue training Coop to the best of her ability, and hopefully find a way to reach the future. As sleep began to take over, the last thought in her head was:

'I'll live and make my choices in each moment, and I won't worry about what is, and what isn't.'


	2. Goodbye Jamie

A/N: Gah, I didn't mean to let this go by seven months without an update . . Second, while major parts of this fic are indeed Kiva centered, not all of it, I just haven't reached that point yet. Also, I know it's kinda OC, but I've seen people who I thought I know change very quickly like I've depicted. Finally, I will explain (later) just how Kiva was able to get a job, etc, even though she didn't have any papers.

Chapter 2:

Goodbye, Jamie

They predicted a light rain. It started out as a light rain ... then it grew. Thunder and lighting were shaking the foundations of every building in Jersey City, and Coop's house was no exception. Everything would have been find and dandy expect for two things: First, Kiva was a remarkably light sleeper, most likely to years of half-expecting the Glorft to bust down the door. Second, she had a slight and inexplicable fear of thunder and lighting in general.

"Urgh ..."

BANG!

Kiva jumped slightly, hating herself that she would flinch over something as trivial as charged electricity. Although she didn't know the source of this fear, it was the only real thing she hadn't gotten over about in this time period. Most of her life was on resistance outposts scattered throughout the former Earth Alliance, so her exposure to the elements was limited, thus her inexplicable fear of thunder and lighting was never a problem ... until she came here. At first, she'd just stay up all night or day waiting it out, and somehow manage to avoid going out in that storm, usually because Jamie won't normally travel in bad weather, and Coop hated training without Jamie. Her thoughts again began to drift in the time between lighting strikes.

'Two years is a long time ...'

That thought started her mind to retrieve memories over the last two years. When Kiva first arrived here, she usually would sit in the back seat, and watch Jamie and Coop enjoy something. They were inseperible. It didn't bother her that much, she was used it, and never was that close with anyone in her own time. Then Gina entered the picture, and Jamie took her for a ride in Coop's car.

'I thought after the Glorft tried to steal the car, then meeting Coop, that she would take off running. Oh boy, was I wrong ...'

Gina actually got over the entire Glorft-car incident and her and Jamie began to seriously date. With time, Jamie began to change and the two inseparable friends began to drift. At first, it really wasn't that noticeable, but Jamie stopped hanging around as often, and his attitude and persona began to change. Soon, it was rare for Jamie and Coop to be seen together, although Coop acted like it was just a phase Jamie was going though. At first, Kiva wasn't sure what was going on, being very inexperienced with the whole relationship thing anyway, but even she began to notice Jamie's disappearance, and Coop slowly loosing his once best friend.

'I sure wasn't complaining, I could sit in the front, and not have to put up with most of Jamie's whining. I mean, he wasn't completely useless, but it was much more peaceful without him around, and I could keep a better eye on Coop ...'

For a time, this seemed to be the new order of things. Coop regularly saw Jamie during the holidays and for events like car shows or monster truck pulls and it seemed that Coop and Jamie would actually remain best friends, but he kept spending more time with Gina, and more distant with Coop. Despite this, there friendship still appeared to be holding, if just a little stranded. Then one dark September night ...

'I wasn't sure what was going on, I was hearing shouting from the house. When I looked out the window, I could see lights on from the kitchen, and Jamie fuming off. Coop could be heard shouting after him'

"If that's how you feel, then don't come back!".

I watched Jamie walk down to the curb, and simply walk away. Coop quite literary fell apart after this. He barely ate, stopped playing video games, didn't tinker with Megas, and fell into a state of depression.'

'Things went from bad to worse. Jamie's yard soon was sporting a For Sale sign, and Coop was quickly falling into darkness. I took up the burden of keeping everything together, and despite my best attempts, I couldn't even get him out of it. Goat came by to try and help Coop, and he confined in me that he's never seen Coop like this in the 20 years he's known him. I was more worried at the time that if he didn't train, the Glorft would destroy Earth while Coop just watched TV. I thought we had reached rock bottom, but it seems that fate was planning a cruel trick ...'

'Ms. Coopaski untimely death compounded the situation. Coop's depression worsened, and our only remaining source of income was served. Coop began to drink and sometimes I wondered just what was going through his head. At Ms. Coopaski's funeral, Coop hadn't shown up to give the eulogy, so I took the podium and gave it instead. Goat gave me a lift back to the house. On the way, we talked about Coop, and the future. He had become much more manageable after giving up trying to date me. He told me that part of the reason Coop fell into this state of depression has to do with his father and how Jamie and Coop first met. While he didn't give specifics, it sounded like there was history between Mr. Coopaski, who I never met and Coop, and somehow Goat and Jamie were related to this.'

'When we got in, Goat wanted to talk with Coop briefly. However, he never got the chance. When we walked into the kitchen, we found him, barely breathing, covered in beer bottles, and collapsed on the floor. On closer examination, I discovered his hands and feet were turning blue from lack of oxygen. Goat instantly recognized this as alcohol poisoning, and franticly called 911, leaving me to make sure he didn't stop breathing, and be ready to administrate CPR if he did. The ambulance arrived within 5 minutes, and I went with the paramedics while Goat following in his car.'

A/N: I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I also just want to get the next part up.


	3. Regression

Chapter 3 - Regression

A/N: Admittedly, I've had some issues in the last chapter when I stated only two years have passed. I'm going to leave it at the moment, but if I find that it really doesn't work, I'll change that time span, and retroactively update the pages as required. I don't intend to change anything else.

---

Lighting and thunder continued to shake the small suburban home. Kiva gave up all hopes of trying to return to sleep. By 4:30, it soon became that the storm had no intention of ended anytime soon, and the redhead just starred resolutely at the ceiling, only flinching after each thunderous boom, and flash of lighting.

'Make ... it ... stop ...'

Deciding that she would have to get up sooner or later, she opted for the former, and forced herself. Making her way into the small bathroom ascent to the bedroom, she splashed some water on her face to wake her up. As she looked up, her own reflection greeted her.

As she gazed at the mirror for a moment, her green eyes starred back at her, with a cold, lifeless expression through them. This was her mark as a solder, her sign of loss, and despair. Around her eyes and lips however, was a distinct blue hue, which was the scars she carried, scars that she never explained to anyone, scars that ...

She starred at them resolutely for a moment before turning away, unable to look at them any more.

Deciding not to dwell on this any futher, she promptly stripped down, and entered the shower, and let the hot water wash over her. Instantly, she felt relaxed, and although the storm outside was pounding away at the roof, she could no longer hear the thunder and lighting outside. For the moment, she won't have to think about anything ...

As Kiva stepped out of the shower, and donned a robe, a light shinning from the house caught her attention. As she looked out the window, she could clearly see the light from the basement and the kitchen shinning back at her. As she starred at the light for a moment, it appeared that something was moving.

'Hmmm? Is ... someone awake?'

Although she was pretty sure it was nothing, her conscious kept nagging her, and against all desire, Kiva donned the first clothing she could find, ending up wearing a beat up pair of jeans, and a navy T-shirt, and made a mental note to do a load of laundry later. As she turned to open the door to the staircase, she hesitated for a moment, and then grabbed the heavy police jacket that was hanging off a hook on the back of the door.

The darkened garage was the same as ever. Making her way down the steps, Kiva fumbled for a moment searching her jacket for the house keys. After finding them, she walked to the side door. The rain had turned the yard into a giant muddy mess, and made it dreadfully slippery. Opening the side door, Kiva stood for a moment, hesitating, not wanting to bear the rain or thunder.

Another round of thunder crackled overhead, and as if the starting shot of a race, Kiva took off, making her way through the rain, and to the basement steps. She narrowly avoided slipping, and found herself under the basement porch. Despite for only being directly in the rain for a few seconds, she was already soaked, and shivering slightly. Fumbling with the keys again, she unlocked the door, and entered the house.

The basement appeared to be empty, although the TV had been left on, and a snowy picture was shining back at her. She made her way across the room and clicked the TV off. For a moment, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the wind and rain outside. Quite suddenly, a creak of the floorboards alerted her to someone being in the kitchen above.

Wasting no time, the redheaded solider edged her way up the stairs, and creaked the door open, peering into the kitchen. For a moment, she could see nothing, but as her eye focused to the brighter light, she could see the outline of a large man sitting with his head down at the small table. Slowly, she opened the door, and grabbed the man's shoulder ...

"Coop?"

A load drunken snore came the return, and there was a clank as something dropped from Coop's hand to the title floor. Bending over, Kiva picked up the brown beer bottle, and then bent over and took a whiff of the blonde's breath.

"Drunk ... Oh, Coop, what am I going to do with you ..."

Doing the only thing she could, Kiva picked up the bottles from the table and the floor and tossed them into the recycling bin. She had a guilty feeling about all of this, she felt that her arrival upset Coop's world and left him like this. Still, he had been making progress ...

'I wonder ...'

Yesterday, Coop and Jamie met after almost two years. Jamie had moved away to California, but still sometimes visited Jersey to see his family. Kiva had run into him at the Speedimart, and asked him to come back at visit. At first, he sternly refused, but eventually gave in to her request. It had been a tense moment when the two former friends were reunited, but it broke, and the two began in conversation. Kiva had read it as a hopeful sign that maybe Coop's life was slowly coming back together.

It had been her suggestion that they go to dinner that night, and perhaps go see the local band, "The Rolling Squares" perform live. At 7 o'clock sharp, Jamie stopped by, and they all headed into downtown Jersey City. Eating at Pizza Hutch, the duo remised about the old days, traveling through space, and blasting enemy bots. Soon the topic changed however, to what they had been doing the past two years. Coop stammered for a moment trying to think of a good response, but Kiva jumped in.

"It's been quiet since you left. The Glorft seemed to have been dealt a crippling blow the last time we fought, and we've still be searching for a way to time-shift to the future."

Jamie accepted it at face value. Neither Kiva or Coop wanted to go in about what really had happened during the past two years, and Jamie didn't press the subject. After dinner, they headed to the Meadowlands for the concert. On the way, Jamie talked about his life with Gina. I wasn't paying attention, Jamie's love life wasn't something I was interested in hearing about.

At the Medlowlands stadium, the cheers from the crowd, combined with the heavy metal coming from the stage made conversation almost impossible. Still, Jamie and Coop appeared to be talking to each other, and in relatively good spirits. During this, Jamie eyed a once in a lifetime opportunity and pushed Kiva from platform they had been positioned onto, causing her to fall into the mosh pit and carried away. When she returned, however, Jamie and Coop had fallen quiet, just watching the band plan onstage, and their expressions didn't match the happy expressions they bore earlier.

'If it hadn't been for the deafening music, I would have asked them what had happened, but my attempts to talk to the boys were drowned out.'

Coop soon managed to pull Kiva aside, and asked if she had any objection to leaving early. He claimed it was to beat the traffic back home. She didn't, and ten minutes later, the trio were back in the car heading home. The tension between Coop and Jamie could be cut with a knife, and they rode back in complete silence. It was only after Coop parked the car, and Kiva headed up to her room on-top of the garage that he said good-bye to Jamie. Kiva knew something was bothering him, but until he opened up, there was no chance to what had happened between them.

She then turned towards Coop, and inside, felt that she had failed him once again ...

'I wish I could help you ...'

---

A/N: Another chapter down. Admittedly, this fic is moving slower then I would have liked, but it's still rolling nicely. BTW, I know I suck w/ chapter names. Suggestions are welcome :-)

BTW, as always, please note any spelling or grammatical errors and email them to me.

J: thanks for your reviews, it makes me feel like I'm going on the right path with the characters. I have trouble getting characters 'in character', and I knew I was tempting fate to try and write something like I did in chapter two, but it seems to be working now. BTW, do you have a way I can contact you, or could you drop me an email or IM (both are listed in my profile).


	4. Confrontation

Chapter 4: Confrontation

A/N: coughs Ok ... so a year and a half has passed ... I'm probably the worst author ever on updates. A lot happened in real life, and I forgot about this fic, but recently watching some old Megas episodes on YouTube, I decided to pick up the pen and start writing once again :-). I do have it all plotted out (did when I started it two years ago), so its really just a matter of writing it

---

The minutes ticked by, slowing denoting the passage of time. A drunken snore emitted from the blond, and it was only with great effort that Kiva managed to drag him upstairs to his room, a place rarely ventured into by the redhead.

The walls were painted a light blue, with several bookcases, a large beaten bed in the corner, and a desk. Models of various cars, and robot models sat on the shelves, and a large poster with some unknown muscle car adored the the wall. Everything however seemed in disarray, and several models lay on the ground, and in pieces; quite possibly destroyed in a drunken rant. Dust covered everything, and it seemed that Coop hadn't properly paid attention to this room in quite some time. On the desk however was a model robot that Coop had purchased a few days; the first one he had attempted to assemble in over a year; it had been a clear sign of his road to recovery.

'Ugh ...'

With one heavy heave, Kiva managed to deposit Coop on the bed, where he promptly rolled over onto his side. She watched him intently, seeing a peace on his face that was often missing these days and vaguely wondered if she looked so peaceful in her sleep ...

In retrospect, maybe inviting Jamine over wasn't the best idea ever; she didn't know what had happened on that cold September night so long ago, and she didn't know what had occurred involved her ...

The lights flickered as lighting struck once again. Kiva held a hot cup of chai tea and continued to listen to the pouring rain. It was an old military tradition to stay up through the night, and attack at dawn when the enemy was likely to still be asleep. She knew that sooner or later, Coop would wake up, he'd try to brush it off, she'd get upset, they'd shout, the unease silence would set in, and that was that.

'Why do I even bother ...'

A voice deep inside her told her that she still needed Coop if they ever found a way to the 31st century, but a second voice simply stated that she cared and left it at that. She looked into her reflection in the tea, but found no answers within its murky depths. Her mind drifted back to the past, her past specifically.

'Ice cold bitch, that's what Stevenson said ... wish he could see me now ...'

Frank Stevenson, Lt. Commander of Epsilon-Three had been Kiva's commanding officer for a year. After the fall of the outer colony's, the Earth Coalition resorted to hit and run tactics against Glorft targets using troops and mechs deployed from orbit, nicknamed Helljumpers; their mission being to break down the hypothetical door and destroy the anti-orbital guns to allow for planetary bombardment, a job considered by many to be completely suidical.

Shortly after joining the Coalition (or more promptly put, the remains of the Coalition), Kiva, then just a Lieutenant (age 17, given a military commission under special circumstances) had led men into battle, and found herself being one of the few who came back from such missions alive. It unnerved her commanding officers her complete lack of emotion, and focus on the job; she had seen death, and she had personally experienced the horrors of the war, and the Glorft first hand, and never seemingly showed anything beside irritation and anger. She kept to herself, only talked when spoken to, or when a circumstance required it, ate, drank, and lived alone. A machine more then human, it was this ice cold persona which had earned her nicknames like 'The Icy Devil', and 'Ice Bitch' to name a few. She never bonded with any of the solders under her command, and never seemed to care when someoitne expired. While many would say that this would end up demoralizing a unit, and leading to poorer results, her service record said otherwise; she had never failed a mission, and while high loses were to be expected, the number of line of duty deaths under her command were shockingly below average.

Stevenson had watched her return from missions where solders with decades more of experience had broken, the sons and daughters of Earth being killed left and right, and she had been in the middle with it, uncaring, and unchanged. It was unnatural, inhuman, it scared and frightened him, and it infuriated him.

"Lieutenant, take a seat.",

"I prefer to stand, sir.",

"Lieutenant, take a seat. I'll make it an order if I have to.",

She hesitated for a moment, before finally sitting.

"Do you know why you are here, Lieutenant Andru?"

"No, sir."

"How many men did you loose on the Landelle mission?",

"Sir?",

"How many men did you loose on the Landelle mission?",

"291, sir.",

"You lost 80 percent of your unit, Lieutenant ..."

A moment of silence passed tensely ...

"Lieutenant, how do you do it?",

"Sir?",

"How can you tell me 291 good men and women died, and not show one single shred of emotion! Time and again, I've debriefed you after each mission. You never show any emotion, you don't care ... it's not natural, no normal human can just switch off their emotions like you can, its like your a machine, Lieutenant. Uncaring, unfeeling, unemotional ... Tell me, Lieutenant, how do you do it?",

A long silence followed ...

"Man, the rumours are true. 'Ice Cold Bitch', indeed. Your not human Kiva, not the way you go, you can't be ...",

"Sir, with all due respect, I am human, and just because I can control my emotions doesn't I am not. I would appreciate it if you didn't say I wasn't ...",

"Ah, seems I finally hit a nerve ... Tell me Kiva, why is it so important I call you human?, Tell me why",

The female solder looked Stevesons straight in the eye with a look that would paralyze even the strongest of men.

"Because in the camps, that's all we had left ..."

A long silence followed after this. The fact that Kiva had actually said something about her life was shocking enough, but to know she had survived the camps ...

"Am I dismissed, sir?",

Stevenson hadn't apparently recovered from Kiva's previous statement ...

"Huh ... yeah, go."

The murky water and steam hadn't proved the guidance she had hoped it would, but succeed in derging up memories long forgotten. Memories of loss, of pain, of lonelyness, of horror, of death; memories long supressed had now risen to the surface. She forced her mind to fight for control, to regain the semi-balance of peace she had, to push down those horrors in her mind. She needed to clear her mind, she needed to do something ...

The rain was pounding hard, lighting flashed, and thunder shook all around. Any sane person would have buried themselves under serveral heavy blankets, and forgotten that the outside world existed. However, if any of them had looked out the window, they would have seen a red-headed women running down the street, trying to run and hide from the horrors that haunt her from within.

A/N: Well ... another chapter done. Maybe I'll update again before '08 :-). This fic is going differently then I planned, but I always wanted a chance to explore the human physche :-). It's definitely darker then most Megas fan fiction I've read, which sets the theme and mood for future chapters, and don't worry, there will be more action, and more explanations coming up. Hopefully the next chapter, or the one after it. I do apologize to my readers (if any of them are left) on the delay on updating. If anyone wants to reach me via AIM or email, I always respond. As always please note any spelling or grammer errors.


	5. Guilt

A/N: sigh, so I worked on writing the next chapter of this fic ... and my hard drive takes it in one great crash. Then I get sick, and ... ugh, what a nightmare. My readers probably want to kill me by now. Oh well. I also noticed that in previous chapters I sometimes switch from a first to third person view. I had intended Kiva to be the narrator for the opening part, but I don't know how well it worked out. At some point I might redo these chapters once/if I ever finish this fic ;-)

Without further ado, I present to you the 5th installment of Timeshift Gearshift.

--

Chapter 5: Guilt

The night is generally considered a time of peace and relaxation when the world rests, the sun sets, and the stars rise, and everything prepares for the next day. For Goat, this was no exception; he was fast asleep, comforted by images of objects he would never own. Unfortunately, all good things must end, and this one ended with the unfamiliar banging on the door.

To say this was an unusual occurrence would be fibbing; Goat, being well versed in the ways of the world knew two things: Bad news always came in the middle of the night, and that it's usually accompanied by it's close friends misery, and confusion.

Despite this, he was still shocked to find a drenched Kiva standing on the other side of the door frame. It wasn't so much that someone was disturbing him in the middle of night then who. The former no-nonsense solder was drenched, out of breath, and had a very lost look on her face. Without wasting a moment, Goat escorted her in, and then forced the door shut against the wind behind her.

Kiva was soaked head to toe, water dripping out of her hair, and a very vacant and dead look eyes; a look he was familiar with, and a look that once again would make one wonder what horrors she had seen. The rain had caused her clothing to stick to her; it was a sign of weight of her need that prevented his attention being drawn to her anatomy.

She was looking straight ahead, not really seeing Goat, or the far wall of the storage container he lived in. Her mind was a blur, a blank, a solder without orders, and no idea what to do. She didn't know why she came here, why she ran, why she felt all-encompassing chill over her body that she wasn't able to escape. It's was almost that all the past horrors of her life had been unleashed upon her mind in a moment, and left nothing. It took her more then a few moments to realized Goat was talking to her, and offering her a towel, and a dry set of clothing he must have found while she was spacing out.

She took the towel silently, and began to dry herself off, not really paying attention to the world around her. In the void within her, the part of her that represented her solder half was currently deadlocked with the long-denied part of her which was human. A battle of hard military discipline versus her human emotions and feelings was being waged deep within her.

--

By many people, silence would be considered golden. For Goat, he'd trade all the junk in the yard to get some insight into Kiva's current state. Since her arrival hours ago, she had said nothing, motioned for nothing, and did nothing but sit with she a blank expression. He knew that she heard him; she did accept the change of cloths, and did sit down when ask, but any inquires onto why she claim just gave him a blank and confused look; the last hour passed in silence, and Goat was strongly considering going back to bed, and try another attempt at basic communication in the morning. Before he could do anything though, Kiva finally broke the long silence.

"I shouldn't be here ... I'm sorry ..."

It took a moment for Goat's sleep-deprived mind to form a response to this unexpected statement. As he stammered his response, Kiva had already turned towards the door.

"You came here for a reason, what happened?"

The red-head just signed, and slumped back into her chair, and resolutely starred at the floor, and allowing her mane of hair to fall in front and obscured her face from view.

"... Coop ..."

Goat just sighed; he couldn't say he was surprised. He watched Coop's fall into darkness first hand as one of his few remaining friends and the only father-figure in the blonde's life and could recount attempts at recover the life he knew just to have fate take another cruel turn. He also watched Kiva try to make the conversion from solder to caretaker. She was a solder out of necessity; she didn't know anything else, and now that life her was behind her, she didn't know how to cope. A solder without a war, and a dreamer without a dream.

"What happened ..."

"I introduced Coop and Jamie ..."

This of course wasn't news; Goat had been to dinner with the duo the day before yesterday, and they all reminisced of brighter times. What was news, and just a little bit scary was the stutter and a lack of confidence in Kiva's voice; it was flat and dead, and it sent a chill down his back. He looked into the cold, lifeless eyes, and saw a look that he hadn't seen in many years. Not since he left the VA mental institution.

For many, 1975 would be remembered as the year the troops came home, and the year the war in Vietnam ended. What most people don't remember is the state of those solders, tired, beaten, and abused. Pushed beyond all limits and asked to fight a meaningless war, it was these lost souls who alone knew the phrase "hell on earth" meant.

Taken in by the propaganda, Goat enlisted in the army after high school, hoping to see the world, and serve his country at the same time. What it didn't tell him was that he would be eventually sent across the seas to fight in a war started by petty people who only cared about their petty interests and had no love or regard for the people who's lives were being gambled for it.

Two full tours of duty, and an honorable discharge later, Goat left the army a broken man, with a permanent limp, recurring nightmares, a love of cigarettes, and a general distrust for the government. After a long and self-destructive period of his life, he eventually was admitted to the VA psychiatric ward, where he discovered Vietnam had left one more parting gift: post traumatic stress disorder, also known as shell shock.

Within those hallowed halls did he see first hand the end results of a war. Men who's bodies were destroyed, missing various bits and pieces. Others became mute, but screamed throughout the night; some had just simply shutdown into a catatonic state who would never be able to live a normal life again, and finally like himself whose minds were still trapped in that hellish hole, marching through the swamps, and forests expecting to die. The only thing these people had in common was the same lifeless look that had become the mark of these poor souls.

It was this same look he saw in Kiva's eyes.

"Kiva, maybe you should start from the beginning."

She didn't even acknowledge that she heard him; she started talking in that flat voice. It had come to the point that all she could do was respond to orders; her ability to think for herself had been overwhelmed, and she came here because she needed someone to tell her what to do. Solders didn't normally need to think about their orders, and she had slipped into this mindset. It was a sobering thought that it was likely this mindset that had kept her sane during her years as a solder and a resistance fighter in the future; just like a machine, she would accept her orders, suppress her emotions, and fight.

As Kiva finished recounting the events of the last 24 hours, she had maintained eye contact with a spot on the floor throughout. Goat mulled over what she had said; it was fairly obvious that while she was gone, whatever disagreement the boys had resurfaced while she was gone, and it triggered Coop's depression, which in turn finally pushed Kiva to the edge, to the point that her coping mechanisms were overwhelmed. Goat finally broke the silence.

"Why do you feel responsible?"

"Because I reintroduced those two, it was my idea we go to that concert."

"You were trying to help. There was no way to predict what might or might not have happened."

"All that has happened is a result of my a-actions."

What caught Goat off-guard was the tiny hint of emotion that had slipped by. He had apparently hit a nerve.

"What have you done?"

"... I-caused-all-of-it.-Megas-Jamie-Coop-his-state, the-way-things-are"

It took a moment for Goat's brain to decode the jumble of words that echoed from the redhead's mouth, then it clicked: She personally held herself responsible for Coop's depression, and the current state of affairs. This lead to a much simpler explanation: She cared.

A few years ago, the concept would have been laughable; even Goat couldn't deny her icy nature but slowly, she began to change. She had been holed up with Coop for years, and she was determined to stay by him to complete his mission; even when it seemed impossible to return to the future, she never once wavered or left. He knew he wanted to ask that one question, but he was afraid to push Kiva any farther then he had to; this wasn't the time to pry into her deeply rooted thoughts and emotions.

Unable to say or do anything, the two sat in silence while the minutes ticked away. It was only in the black darkness before the dawn did Kiva finally break the silence.

"It was all supposed to be so simple."

"What was simple?"

"My plan change the past, and save the world. Simple."

She let a fake laugh go, sending unnerving shivers down Goat's spine.

"The Earth-Glorft war lasted generations, and took away everything. My own parents died in the line of duty on the Absolution; I don't even really remember then; my adoptive father, the Glorft took him away, and destroyed our home; hell the destroyed the entire colony. We escaped on Horizon just to be captured later; forced into the camps."

By this point, Kiva was pacing back and forth. Goat kept his eye carefully trained on her, it was the first time she ever volunteered any information about herself.

"The camps?"

"Enslavement camps, or extermination if you prefer. They were both really. Worked you to death. They'd take people at random, and simply execute you. Then throw the carcass back at the crowds, and let them deal with it. What ... what I remember most though was the smell. The smell of mustard gas and roses."

Her left hand was fidgeting, obviously trying to do something to help calm herself down. It reminded him of his days as a smoker on how his hands used to sometimes twitch like that under stress. He doubted though that tobacco would have been readily available in the 31st century, much less in the middle of a war zone.

"How'd you escape?"

"Coalition forces raided the camp I was in. I managed to get out and onto one of the life boats. From there. At that point, the Coalition was falling apart; the Glorft had managed to capture most of the outer colonies, and was proceeding to mount a final attack on the core worlds. All that was left in me was a desire to fight, to win ..."

Kiva stared at the ceiling during this last point. For the first time in many years, he saw the burning determination in her eyes that had long since departed. However, the moment passed and the fires were extinguished.

"I enlisted. Took the missions that were considered suicide. Came back alive against the odds. Rise, lather, repeat. I got a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant; can't say much changed expect the amount of paperwork. After Battle of the Last Stand in 3035, the Earth Coalition was finally annihilated. After that we became resistance fighters hobbed under the EC banner; a dying dream of freedom fighting against an unstoppable force."

The pacing resumed at this point.

"We found the damn thing as we ran with our tails between our legs. On a barren piece of rock on the outskirts of known space. There wasn't much left, but we found the time flux in the burnt out remains of what appeared to be a lab. We knew it was Coalition technology, but it was far beyond our level of technology. Still, it was an inspiration for an absolutely crazy plan, but from the moment I saw that damn device, it was an obsession; a drive; a hope ..."

"The plan was simple. Steal an advanced Glorft mech, and the computer records on the Battle of the Last Stand. Take it back early enough before the battle to allow the Coalition scientists to reverse engineer and devise defenses, and change the outcome of the war we lost. If the Coalition was able to withstand the attack, there was a good chance they could turn the tide of war. Gorrath gambled everything on a final offensive, if he lost, the Coalition would be free to mount a counter-attack."

"So what happened?"

"We made our way back to Earth, and hid out on the remains of one of the lunar colony. We were discovered though before we could carry out the plan. In desperation, I tried to carry out the plan alone, but the Glorft stopped me from transferring to Megas and ... it doesn't matter ... the time flux doesn't even work; I suppose I was 'lucky' to survive the trip and make it out of the void, but my mission has failed, and I'm stranded here ..."

"Is that a bad thing ..."

"Through my direct actions, the future of humanity is doomed to enslavement and eventual exctintion. And what am I doing about it? I'm sitting down here just talking about it, while the one person who could potentially change help me fulfill my mission is currently drunk out of his mind, and useless to me! So to answer your question, yes, it's a bad thing."

Goat remained silent for a few moments complaining what he had just heard. It many have only been the 'short' version, but it was quite clear that there was quite a bit of turmoil inside her stemming from her failures with both Coop and her mission to change time.

"Ok, stupid question ..."

Once again, the silence set in, but this time, it was broken by a beeping sound coming from Kiva's wrist. Without a moments hesitation, she flipped her wrist up, and called up the holographic control panel, which was flashing red.

"What is it?

"I dunno ..."

A few more moments passed, to be broken by Kiva's gasping, and she stumbled backwards into the chair.

"It ... it's not possible ..."

"What?"

"Chronometric particles .. loads of them ..."

"Which means?"

"Someone ... or something has opened a time vortex ..."

--

A/N: And that's a good place to stop it ;-). It's longer then the previous chapters, but still kinda short. I just wanted to get this out before my fic dies of old age ;-).

Couple of responses to reviewers:

Talon88.1 Yeah, it's anonying that the good, but low-budget shows seem to get low-budget fics. Quite anonying actually.

Tobi: As a firefighter in real life, I know first hand what you mean about healing scars. Kiva's scars run quite deep, and as for Coop ... well, you'll have to have to wait and see ;-)


	6. Opening Movement

Chapter 6: Opening Movement

--

_Fate and chance are two things that no one could ever clearly define. Was a chance meeting on a remote transfer station a one in a million chance encounter, or was it fate, guided by some unseeing hand manipulating people for some unforeseen destiny. Or was it something else all together?_

--

"_There comes a time in every man's life, where they must face their destiny. No one, not you Parker, not me, not anyone knows the form that choice will take. It is that moment were, we as solders, no, as individuals must grab their fate by their own handles, and twist it to our will."_

"_Despite what crap ONI's propaganda machine h__as trying shoved up the EC's ass, it is an undeniable fact __that we are loosing this war, Frank__. You have a wife and daughter, escape beyond the zone of alienation before its too late! Optimism has its place, but not when your looking down the barrel of a gun. Its only a matter of time before the Glorft locate our remaining forces, and we'll be forced to make a last stand."_

"_Damn it, I'm fighting for my wife and daughter, and not only that, I'm fighting for humanity as a whole! Do you honestly think I want__ them to wander the galaxy trying to find home. Your not human, Earth is not your home world. What would you do to defend it."_

_The old fox sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, they shared a similar mindset when it came to such matters. The needs of the many always outweighed the needs of the few; a concept that every solder who fought was familiar with.._

"_The same as you. Fight to the bitter end. Defy fate, or the gods even, but never ever give up or run away. You can call me a hypocrite for saying both that and this, but there are times where that stupid adage should burn and die."_

_The redhead smiled and laughed. Not one of those lighthearted laughs you see everyday, but one of those good old fashion belly laughs that warms the hearts of the people around you, and even the fox found himself grinning slightly._

"_Spoken like a true fossil who has seen the world turn and the illogicality of it all. Dead right you are. Doesn't change a thing though."_

"_Fossil, now am I ... well your right, it never does, the stupid urge to serve doesn't come with an on/off switch. We're damned if we do, damned if we don't. Heh. Have to appreciate the catch-22 of the situation"_

"_Amen. I'll drink to that."_

_A long silence fell over the table; not a tense one, or a stern one like you would expect from two high ranking officers of the Earth Coalition. No, this was the silence created by the special bond of brotherhood between men who had died, and who's bodies simply hadn't gotten the message yet._

"_You know, you never answered my original question."_

"_I know ..."_

_"It's a big responsibility ..."_

_"I'm getting feeling that our meeting here isn't a consequence."_

_"You can believe what you want, and the choice is yours. The Unyielding Absolution needs a caption._"

"_The Absolution needs a caption who deserves her, who wants-"_

"_Let me tell you this right now Frank, people who don't want the mantle of leadership, or the mantle of responsibility have a strange tendency to be the best person for that job. The Absolution needs a caption. FLEETCOM is shorthanded enough, with our losses on the rim, and within the zone. You said every individual has a chance to change and tempt fate. This is your chance Frank. This war isn't lost yet. Make a difference."_

_The man looked into the foxes eyes, and just sighed ..._

"_Park, you'd make one hell of a used cars salesmen ... Just do me one thing."_

"_If ... if something happens to us, you know, me and Cynthia. Take care of her, won't you?"_

"_Sure, Frank"._

"_Thanks Park. Now, one last round before we part company. Barkeep! Another round of the good stuff."_

--

Kiva stared at the holographic screen. There was no disputing the results. Possibilities whirled through her mind at the speed of light. In light of this new information and despite her current state of mind, solder mode kicked in.

"Goat, call Coop. Now! Tell him to get the car, and get here now."

Scurrying at the sudden attitude change, Goat made his way into the back room, and franticly called the house number. It was with a sigh of relief when she her Goat speaking into the receiver; the blond must have recovered from his drunken stupor she left him in hours before. Her tired and overworked mind began calculating possibilities and probabilities.

"He's on his way …"

Kiva just nodded, and made her way out in the rain to the towering hulk of Megas. They had moved it here to help prevent the needless and repetitive destruction of the garage; the insurance company would only pay to have it replaced so many times.

She looked up on the towering mechoid, and made her way to the access hatch located in the foot, and placed her palm on the hand scanner. The door slid open nosily, providing access to the inner mechanisms. Climbing the ladder, she made her way to the secondary control bridge, and began typing commands into consoles, and prayed nothing broke in the time Coop had left Megas to rust. The lights suddenly intensified and a high-pitched whine spun up, awakening the slumbering beast.

"That's a relief ..."

Time itself seemed to standing still, and despite Kiva's wishes, she was still trapped in a world of lies and fallacies created by her mind. The world that she existed in on Earth, and the world that Megas connected her to, the world of the solder. Two worlds that should never cross, linked by fate, bridged across time, these two worlds were finally moving apart. Half a decade had pasted since the last time she had seriously had to fight, or prepare to fight, and even longer still when she had a moment to "appreciate" the silence, and the unnerving calm that existed before battle.

Her left hand twitched uncontrollably to the point that she was forced to cradle it with her right. As she forced the twich down, her sleve slid up, and one of the scars on the back of her hand reminded her of what was still at stake, and what the Glorft had done to her personally. Forty-seven trillion people lived within the zone, twenty-two trillion after the opening movements of the war. The Earth Coalition was cut off from the rest of Known Space once the Glorft attacked and destroyed the hyperlight bypasses that traversed the Zone of Alienation, escape had become nearly impossible. The count stood at seventeen trillion ten years later. Her slavery in the camps marked the beginning second push against the EC. When it was all over nearly fifteen years later, the survivor count was less then three trillion survivors within Glorft occupied space, and Earth Coalition was nothing more than a memory, and humans were doomed to be a slave race slowly heading for extinction.

The mechiod suddenly bent over, nearly knocking the redhead off her feet as it picked up the car, and its still hungover driver. Making her way to the top, she took her usual place in the passenger side of the car.

"..."

Despite the gravity of the situation looming over them, neither one managed to say anything. Forcing herself into solder mode, she took an authorization, take charge voice and demeanor which she could hide behind until which time she could muster the courage to talk about the relapse.

'Keep your eye on the goal. There will be plenty of time ... plenty of time ... plenty of time ...'

Without showing a shed of emotion, she indicated to Coop that the signals were coming from the far side of luna, and to be ready for a fight; there was no idea what to expect. Who would have the technology to open portals in time; the thought that the Glorft might have reverse-engineered the technology was beyond distributing, but her tired mind kept coming to the same conclusion. With the roar of the engines, the mech rose into the sky, and New Jersey disappeared behind her, becoming a small bip. As she looked forward, Earth's solitary satellite, Luna, took center stage. Out of habit, she began barking orders.

"On the far side, Coop, nice and easy, don't need to alert whoever is there to our presence."

"R-Right ..."

Coop's tone of voice seemed to be a mixture of terror and confusion; perhaps it had been so long since she had 'settled down' so to speak that he forget her nature as a solder. Or maybe it was something else; maybe her old commanding officers were right. Maybe she just wasn't human ...

Before she could peruse that line of through however, her eyes gazed on a horrific sight.

"No ... no, no, no, no, no its ... not's not ..."

"Kiva ... that isn't, is it?"

"Yes ... yes it is ..."

Before them, a massive snot-green battle cruiser stood before a swirling vortex of light and color.

The Glorft has mastered time itself.

--

It took the sound of alert siren going off before either one could fully come to terms with this. The mere through that Gorrath had successfully created and designed his own time flux module, and the resulting consequence of that was beyond terrifying. Reacting instinctively, Coop jarred the wheel to the left, with several of the missiles exploding onto the behind them. Alerted to their location, the snot-green mechs charged at them. Explosions rock, but Coop's piloting skills sees them safely through.

"Coop, you have to get me to the Kranjor, we have to stop them. I must ..."

He didn't respond, but just had a look of utmost determination, a look she hadn't seen in a very long time. Any doubt about the degeneration of his piloting skills disappeared as another salvo of missiles were dodged. Gorrath must have predicted their arrival, mechs were everywhere, more than Kiva could remember seeing, or even believe he still had. The only question that was nagging at her above anything else, was why open a portal here of all places, it didn't make sense; she was missing something.

Coop hit the afterburners, charging right down the middle. Kiva took control of the weapon's array, targetting the mechs to the left and right; it had been a long time since she had fired any weapon, but her memories of doing this during the war returned to her immediately. When they had first tried this setup years ago, Coop had objected saying 'He had it under control'. However, after blowing two heat seeking missiles that would have dinged the paint, he grudgingly allowed her to keep doing it. Since that time, they had always used this dual-headed control in combat.

Explosions rocked Megas as mech after mech exploded. Coop let out a barbaric roar, and zigzagged in a dazzling display of dexterity and piloting skill. As they approached, Kiva could make out the clear blue and white ripples in the fabric of space and time that was slowly being breached by the time flux unit. Her sensors indicated while it wasn't stable yet, it was clear the rift was stabilizing slowly. She had maybe five or six minutes before the ship could make the jump.

Strictly speaking, the concept of time travel is very simple. Time itself exists as a stream that interconnects every point to each other. The thought of realistic time travel followed after the discovery of the timestream in the early 26th century. By focusing a beam tachyons and and other chronometric particles, it was possible to "bend" space into the void, but pratical travel had proven impossible; the timestream itself was a featureless void, and any probe that entered disappeared, never to be seen again. Kiva wasn't completely sure how the time flux worked internally, but she suspected that the beam it generated created a tunnel, or corridor between two points in time, bridging the two time periods briefly. Although on the surface it appeared to work, Megas's time flux unit was flawed, the original corridor of time she traveled along with the Glorft destabilized and broke down. It was a sheer miracle she escaped that void, landing in the year 1999, with the Glorft shortly behind them, and Megas landing in the early 30s.

Another round of explosions shoot the mech, but Coop kept his cool and kept charging right down the middle. The Kranjor was getting closer and closer. Unloading another salvo of missile, Kiva watched a massive fireball hit the side of the of the battlecruiser, creating an opening. A roar of the engines, and Megas blasted its way into the belly of the beast.

"Which way?"

Kiva glanced at her sensors. The source of the time flux's chronoton emissions was straight ahead, and pointed that to Coop. As they traveled through the maze of twisting corridors, the odd sense that something was wrong began to pull over her. Were was the reinforcements, the thousands of mechs pouring out of every passageway, the usual banter from Gorrath. It was enough to make the hair on the backside of her hand stand on end. As they made their way down a narrow corridor, a large blast door stood in their way.

"Behind that door ..."

"Right"

Coop eased the controls, and Megas forced the door slowly open with sheer brute strength. As Coop forced the door, a swirl of blue and green light bathed them. Kiva could make out the suspended ball of energy that made up the core of a time flux unit, the energies of time itself phasing the device between the past, present, and future, and in effect, creating a 'bubble' where regular space, and the timestream intermixed. Two stablizer rings stood on either end of the device, preventing the bubble from growing or surging out of control. Tubes of light ran towards the ceiling, syphoning energies from the time flux, and creating the distortion wave outside.

"We need to destory this thing, and the Glorft's data on it ... and DON'T SMASH IT"

Kiva had caught Coop just a moment from ripping the device from its pesitial and tearing it into a million pieces.

"If you smash it, the energies within the time flux will go super-critical and vaporize us along with the Glorft ..."

"Huh?"

Kiva could feel a blood vessel twinge on her forhead, but kept her cool.

"You smash it, we die. That simple."

"Oh ..."

"We just need to upset the balance ... I need to go outside"

Without waiting for a response, Kiva opened the door, and using one of the tethers on top of Megas, repelled to the ground, accessing a control panel, and reading the alien language on it the best we can.

'Simple, this should be simple ... too simple ...'.

It was at this moment Kiva's fears were confirmed and the trap was sprung. Without warning, the artificial gravity cut out, and mechs flooded in.

--

Caught off guard by the lack of gravity, Megas floated helplessly and unable to dodge the shots aimed for it. Explosions rocked the mech, and Coop shifted into reverse, and floored the accelerator, trying to make more room between him and the enemy mechs. The Glorft had the advantage, he was caught in a tight spot, with little maneuverability, and if he didn't get out of here soon, he was likely to die.

'Damn it.'

Kiva had long ago taught him the value of retreat, but it didn't mean he had to like it, especially since it meant leaving her behind until he could double back and teach these wanna-be pilots a lesson in destruction. Turning around, Coop doubled back along the path that they had followed into the Kranjor, looking for a location where he could stand his ground, but every possible venue was cut off by mechs, and other heavy armored mechanized units. Gorrath had managed to anticipate his actions, and had his forces hide until he was in a vulnerable location, and then effectively prevented him from taking the high ground.grabbing Unable to find an area that won't leave him completely exposed, he blasted his way through the mechs dead ahead, intent on making it back out into space where he had an advantage in maneuverability. The only problem is he would leave Kiva alone and undefended. He tried to pacify himself by reminding himself that she was a solder, but it did little to resolve his worry.

Running through a Glorft blockade, and back through the hull breach that had lead him into the mothership, he expected mechs to fly towards him from all directions, and he stood ready to engage them, but instead of charging at them, the few remaining mechs outside fell back, surrounding the Kranjor. Rightly confused by this anomalous behavior, Coop tried to figure out what he was missing. However, just before he could strain his mind on this puzzle, an explosion of light engulfed his mech. The rift in front of his grew by several orders of magnititude, growing large enoughto enswallow the mighty Glorft battlecruiser. Then two chilling revelations Coop at the same time; first, the Glorft intended the ultimate humiliation by leaving him behind unable to change the course of time, and second, Kiva had failed in her mission to destroy the Glorft's time flux unit before it reached activation.

The ion engines on the Kranjor lit up in an ominous blue eye as the cruiser charged for the rift. Knowing if he didn't act fast, he would be left behind, Coop floored the accelerator. He had seconds, maybe less before the Glorft would escape into the timestream, and the rift would seal up behind them. Shouting towards nothing in particular, the blond pushed his mech as hard as it would go. As he approached the distortion, he felt strange, as if time was both accelerating and standing still, like everything and nothing were merging together, or existence was both allowed and denied. As the mothership passed through the aperture into the timestream, the portal began to clench shut, the jaws that were the time flux no longer forcing it open.

"Come on, come on, come on ..."

Hitting the afterburner, in a spree of fire and burning fuel, Coop crossed between the border between space and time, and stepped foot into the nothingness and vastness that encompassed it. He felt himself behind pulled apart and reassembled, created and destroyed, analyzed and studied, and coming full-circle.

'What ... what's going on.'

He felt sick, but suppressed the urge to vomit.

'Got to stay focused ...'

As he forced his eyes open, he saw a bluish light surrounding them on all sides; a corridor of time that paradoxically linked the past and present. In front of him, he could see the tale end of the Kranjor in front of him; he still had a chance to save Kiva, if he could only catch up. Before Coop could make any such move, the proximity alarm went off as many missiles zeroed on him. Coop tried to dodge them, but found the corridor was just slightly larger than the width of the Kranjor, evasion was near-impossible. Explosions blinded his view, and Coop felt himself thrown backwards, and Megas was ejected from the corridor, left floating in the vast emptyness of time itself.

--

_The fox sighed, looking at the destroyed living room. It wasn't enough he got stuck doing babysitting while on Earth, Frank was going to slaughter him for letting the house be destroyed by a four year old. He was a father once, many lifetimes ago, why didn't he remember the destruction and torture young children count bring down upon their elders. As he continued looking for the spawn of Satan herself, a chill ran down the foxes back. He didn't know why, but an odd yet wrongly familiar feeling of lose came over him, and the fur on the back of his arms stood on end._

_It wasn't long after until that he spied the familiar fleet car that belonged to the Rear Admiral. It seemed trouble was about to walk up, and greet him personally today. He froze though when he saw two enlisted in full dress uniform. It was a long and outdated military ritual that had long outlasted its usefulness in this miserable war. It was a death march. One more useless dead hero had been added to the rank, and this time, someone had been left behind._

--

Author Notes: Finally, chapter 6 is posted, and the beginning of the end of the prolog beings :-). The longest chapter thus far (and pushes this fic over 10,000 words), and probably one of the fastest turn around times I have in writing a new chapter.

I guess I should say some things. For the Kiva fans out there, I'm sorry, but our favorite redhead is going to be taking a backseat for a few chapters, its time we focused our attention on the slacker himself. I also should note that this chapter marks the end of the first part of Timeshift Gearshift, which is when all our characters leave the past to fight a war in the future. I'm already planned out the ending (I actually had that planned from the beginning), and I know what happens to all our beloved characters.

On this chapter, I went through qutie a few revisions before I was happy with it (the flashforwards for instance weren't added on the final draft of this chapter), but I felt I achieved a good balance between action and pyschology. The next chapter will likely be very heavy in the later as Coop drifts aimlessly through time itself, with the following chapter being more action oriented.

I do ask if you read, to leave a review, because it tells me this fic still has readers, and makes me push on writing it, so if you want more timeshift, keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing :-) Also, I'm looking for a beta reader to read chapters as I write them, so if your interested, please drop me a PM.

As one final bonus to my loyal readers, here are (tenatively) the names of the next two chapters, "Crossroads of Destiny", and "Scorched Earth"


	7. Time's End

Chapter 7: Time's End

---

_Hope can only be lost when people stop trying. That is the greatest tragedy of them all._

_---_

Darkness ...

Unending Darkness ...

Coldness ...

Nothingness ...

These are the words that deserve the void.

---

_Wha-What's going on?_

_---_

_A young boy crying. An old solder watching._

_"He's dead ... dead! How?"_

_The garbage man picked up the crying boy and placed him on one of the mismatched couches, no longer angry having been disturbed from his rest by the banging coming from the yard. The man offered the boy a tissue, who promptly used it to great effect._

_"I've lost my family too ..."_

_Between the sobs, the man could barely make out._

_"You have?"_

_"Yeah ... a long time ago. In a far away land."_

_"The lieutenant took my father away! If it wasn't for him, dad would still be alive!"_

_---_

_No, don't make me remember that!_

In the timestream, the lies will be stripped away until only the truth remains.

_Who, who said that?_

_---_

_A different time, a different place. A day far in the past._

_---_

_"Coop, I want to meet a friend of mine."_

_"A friend?"_

_"Yes, his name is Jamine. Jamine, why don't you come over here?"_

_"Yea ... whatever ...."_

_A small boy with greasy black hair who appeared to want nothing better than to go home and watch TV jumped down from one the crates. He dragged his feet along the ground, seemingly wanting nothing to do with the blond-haired, blue eyed boy in front of him._

_---_

"_Jamie ...."_

This one holds a strong pull over you. But what of this one?

---

_Flashes of a redheaded solder flew by, a solder fighting the Groft, an annoyance who had no sense of humor, a friend who stood with him in the darkest nights, and a guardian who watched his back._

_---_

_The frantic call to 911 had summoned firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other first responders to the scene of the New Jersey suburban home. Coop had been home alone with his mother, Kiva had said she needed fresh air; in truth, she had merely allowed herself to get lost in a crowd, and be a part of a world that already ceased to exist in her future, and to be able to just live. When she returned that night, her instincts had told her something wasn't quite right, especially the front door unlocked, but until she had stepped inside did she begin to understand the significance of what happened._

_The first thing that had hit her was the combined smell of blood and vomit. Following the source of the oder brought Kiva up the stairs, and she noted that something had marked the wall. A trail of something marked the stairs. On guard, she made her way into Ms. Cooposki bedroom and found the room in complete disarray. The normally pristine sheets were stained and scattered, and a torn nighting gown lay on the floor. Various possibilities ran through her mind, but a quick search of the house revealed nothing, no Coop, no note, and no idea what was going on. _

_It was only some time later did she finally notice the message left on her cell phone from a frantic Coop that "something" had happened, and he was on his way to Jersey City General Hospital, and learned the gruesome details for herself. Cursing herself for not taking it with her, she immediately called Goat and informed him of what had transpired. Within fifteen minutes, they were both silently sitting in his car on their way to the hospital. Upon arriving, they eventually found Coop sitting in the waiting room near the intensive care unit, and the details of the nights event came into focus._

_As far as Coop could tell, it seems Ms. Cooposki had a massive surge of pain run through her chest to the point that she screamed out loud enough to wake Coop from the other room. He felt the need to call the paramedics to the house but before they arrived on scene Ms. Cooposki collapsed to the ground and stopped breathing. Defibrillation with an AED failed to restart her heart, and the elderly women was immediately admitted into ICU. Now, no one, aside from God could know if she would live or die this night._

_Somewhere around three o'clock in the morning, Goat left, unable to stay awake, leaving Coop and Kiva alone. Ever since Jamine had walked out on Coop, there had bee some sorta impenetrable barrier that had made conversation difficult at best, and impossible at the worst. Despite this, Kiva simply sat, and passed the time with Coop, each passing minute without news further increasing the tension in the room. There was nothing within Kiva's power that she could do to help relieve this, but she remained steadfast and watched as time marched forward._

_It was in the early hours of the dawn that a grim-faced doctor entered the waiting room. A painful jolt shot through Kiva; she had seen that look before, and knew what was coming, and a uncomfortable feeling of helplessness set in. The look on Coop's face knew that he had no idea what was about to hit him._

_"Mr. Cooposki?",_

_"Yes?",_

_"I ... I have some bad news I'm afraid ..."_

_In the seconds before and following this sad announcement, Kiva witnesses the crushing blow that completely undid Coop. The destruction of a man, especially someone as special as Coop is always painful to watch, and the solder could barely stomach to watch him collapse on the ground and breakdown crying; this was the deathblow for him, between Jamine and this, his emotional control had been strained and finally snapped._

_Doing the only thing that made any sense to her, she threw herself on the ground, wrapping her arms around Coop, trying to do something to relieve the pain, to spare him what she had gone through many years ago._

_---_

_Kiva ..._

She means a great deal to you ...

_She's a friend ... a close friend ..._

I see. Would you risk everything for her?

_I, huh, what? Who are you?_

Would you give up everything to help her?

_Yes._

Why?

_Because its the right thing to do!_

Is that the only reason?

---

"Ugh ..."

Feeling like he had been run over, flattened, re-inflated, and then flattened again, it took a moment for the blond haired pilot to register he was still alive, that everything was still attached in their proper positions, and that he was lying down on something soft. The lingering question of if it was all a dream dissipated the moment he opened his eyes, and found him far far away from home. Instead of the familiar blue walls of his bedroom, he found himself lying on top of what appeared to be some sorta hospital bed in a futuristic medical ward with very very stale air. Around him, other beds and what appeared to be an office or nurses station lay empty. The room itself was lit by very dim lights, and had a strong air of neglect about it.

Questions such as what happened, where or when he may be whizzed through his mind, each entering and leaving unanswered in the same beat. As he worked himself into a sitting position, the sensation of being on pins and needs struck him through his entire body, and he felt oddly light, as if he had suddenly lost twenty or thirty pounds.

"How long have I been out ...."

Very slowly, Coop swung his legs to the edge of the bed, and attempted to stand. Stabs of pain ran through the length of his legs, and they quivered as if they were about fail before the blond held the wall to try and stabilize himself. Shaking his legs out, Coop once again tried the ancient art of walking, finding that it was possible as long as he moved slowly. Making his way to what appeared the exit, an odd feeling overcame him. Suddenly, and without warning, Coop found himself observing the room full of people, panic, and the sound of a klaxon going off, but before he could comprehend this strange change, everything went back to as it was before.

"What the hell was THAT?!"

It was almost like time was like a record, and the needle had momentary skipped back to a previous point before righting itself once again. Shelving the issue for the time being, Coop made his way to the door, and tapped the "Open" button beside it, causing the doors to whirl and slowly slide open, bathing Coop in an eerie light.

As his eyes adjusted, he stepped into the hallway, and peered through the bay windows. Before him lay drifting ships and debris, relics from forgotten times forming a graveyard. Glancing downward, he saw the darkened ruins of what appeared to be a dead city, and above, a ball of light and energy that was both focused and dispersed, and seemed to have an unusual "life" to it.

"What in the- where, what is this place?!"

"You are the point of least resistance in time and space ..."

Startled, Coop looked down the hallway to see what appeared to him as a ghostly white nine-tailed anthropomorphic fox with heterochormic eyes, nine tails, whose feet didn't touch the ground, and enveloped an ethereal glow around him. He glanced at out the window, and then met his eyes with Coop.

"The Law of Conservation of Time states that when a time traveler who doesn't not fall victim to dissociation, then becomes lost and fails re-entry to a world thread, the ebbs and flows will bring them here. You are at both the beginning and the end, the birthplace and grave site for the multiverse."

"I ... er ... what?"

The fox sighed and looked out the window.

"I believe the easiest way put it is that you are at Time's End."

"How ... how did I get here?"

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"I .... I was chasing the Glorft they ... Kiva! I need to get back there!"

Upon making the connection that the place he was now, and the place Kiva was were not one in same, an urge of panic shot through Coop, which didn't go unnoticed by the white fox.

"Tell me, where do you think your going?"

"To ... to ..."

"Do you know how to even get to where you want to be?"

"...."

"You can not simply rush off, to do so will simply lead to your death."

"Then what am I supposed to do, just stand there while the Glorft race back to the future?"

"Will your death accomplish your goals? If so, then you are welcome to leave."

"...."

"If you want to help your friend, then you need to be alive ..."

"..."

The white fox gazed out the window again, and then resumed talking.

"Given how long you've been asleep, you must be famished. If you are hungry, you are welcome to join me."

***

The mess hall was a large room with swept ceilings. Like the rest of this forgotten city, it was darkened, and had a strong air of neglect about it, as if no one had been there in a very long time. Coop noticed that the vast majority of the city was completely dark, and it was only by the glow of the fox that he was not in pitch darkness. The few sections that had power, such as the medical bay, and the mess hall's food replicator were hacked and patched together; emergency generators and power packs laid haphazardly wired up to the systems that did work

Despite the presence of food, Coop's appetite was non-existent, replaced with both concern and confusion. Through the answers to his questions, the Guardian (as the fox referred to himself as) began explaining the nature of this world.

As it transpired, it was much to the blonde's shock when he discovered was still in the timestream; when Megas was forced out of the corridor, Coop was exposed to the raw fabric of time. The Guardian explained that under normal circumstances, an individual exposed to the raw timestream became "unstuck" known as dissociation and trapped with no way to extricate themselves.

By some one in billion fluke, Coop avoided this fate, and the currents of time pushed him to the end, where the Guardian found him half-dead from the trip. As for the matter of how long he was out was a matter of debate since time itself doesn't pass normally in the timestream; it could have been anywhere from a few minutes to several lifetimes.

The good news of Coop's survival was tempered by the fact that due to the collapse of the corridor by the Glorft, there was no telling if the Kranjor, or Kiva along with it, had survived the shift to the future.

***

"I found it and you drifting in the void surrounding my city. You can probably find what you need to make repairs lying around, however, in my humble opinion it would be suicide to attempt a timeshift in it."

"That's my problem ..."

Megas was being held against in a cage, large chunks of the armor plating missing, and most of the paint job completely scotched off by exposure to the timestream. It was perhaps in worse shape then when he initially found it in the junkyard. Still, it did get him here, it couldn't be that badly damaged ...

***

"So what are you, really? It's just too clique that I reach the end of time, and find some old guy who knows all."

"I told you I am the Guardian of this city, and all I know is I know nothing at all."

"I hate it when you talk like that, but I mean, seriously, what is this place, this city? It must have been built by someone, and you must not have always been 'The Guardian'. I mean, what sorta title is that?"

The white fox answered in his monotone voice looking along the long deserted maintenance bay.

"This city is the last remaining outpost of a civilization that long ago fell. It once stood for a great many things. It was a great empire who fell to its own pride, and collapsed inward upon itself. What we're standing on is the only vestige that it ever existed."

"And what of yourself?"

"Me? I'm just an observer."

There was a note of finality that told Coop that he wasn't going to get anything else today from his lone companion in this ruined city.

***

"Do you have any idea what your doing Mr. Cooposki?"

The white fox had assumed his usual perch on top of the catwalk that ran above the maintenance bay, quietly watching the blond fiddle with various pieces of metal scrap retrieved from the graveyard. Without any intention, the two had fell into some strange routine involving sleep, food, salvaging for parts, and working on repairing Megas.

"Well ... no, but I have a sense"

"A sense?"

"Its hard to explain, but well ..."

The blond looked up as expecting the answer to be scrawled on the ceiling. Several second passed before he spoke.

"Uh, have you ever had a feeling something is right or wrong? You know, without actually knowing it"

The fox looked at him if he had three eyes.

"Right, stupid question. Well, its the same sorta thing, I just 'feel' how things go, you know? That's how I fixed Megas after I found it ..."

The white fox continued to stare down from above but said nothing.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You seem to know an awful lot this place, why are you here?"

"We all have to be somewhere, I just happen to be here ..."

"... you know, I hate it when you do that ..."

"I know ..."

***

"So your going to actually do it?"

"You always talk about being in the right place, and this isn't where I belong. I need to find Kiva ..."

"You care a lot about her ..."

The blond just remained silent as he made a final check on Megas's systems. He had lost track how long he had been a prisoner, trapped with no way to reach the redheaded solder, or the horrific Glorft that lay in Earth's future. Loosing was not an option for Coop, he had to do the right thing, he had to be the hero as lame as that sounded.

With a slightly sweaty palm, the blond turned the ignition key. A deep whirling sound emanated from deep within the mechanized marvel, and with a roar, the beat within awakened. The gauges and dials lit up and the blond exhaled revealed that Megas itself was alive.

"Impressive ...."

"Thank you ..."

The two individuals glanced at each other, and an unsaid exchange of words passed between them; an exchange of gratitude; of friendship; and of lose.

"You could come with me you know ..."

"I thank you for the offer Mr. Cooposki, but my place is here, just as yours is out there."

"Heh. I had a feeling you'd say something like that. Anyway, thank you. For both the save, and for helping me fix Megas."

Coop extended his hand, which the Guardian took, and shook briefly. A final unsaid exchange of words transpired, and the fox slowly turned and walked away. Coop watched him go before properly strapping himself into the driver's seat, and began to slowly edge his mech out of launch bay.

Clearing the entrance, the eerie gathering of lights that were the essence of time itself became visible, emulating both Megas, and the City of the Dead. Opening the throttle up as a work up, made one final pass around the starfish-shaped city, before turning to face the ball of light and time. Ready to face his destiny, Coop floored it, and Megas roared with its new found life, flying into the essence of existence itself.

---

A/N: And so another chapter of Timeshift Gearshift closes. Man. I suck at updating; and I keept loosing drafts. I actually wanted this chapter to be longer, but I also wanted to post it before another cosmic came and took it away :-/. I'm not sure if this chapter has come out the way I really wanted it to (I wrestled quite a bit about dropping it, but it builds quite a bit of history, and gives us our first serious look at the way Coop's mind ticks.

No this fic is not dead, I do plan to finish it, even if it takes me another few years (assuming I still have some readers), and I do have the plot figured out; I know the way this world ends :-). As usual, please leave a review so I know my readers still exist, and feel free to contact and/or private message me; if only to tell me to keep writing.

**


	8. Crossing the Rubicon

Chapter 8: Crossing the Rubicon

---

_"Whoever controls the past controls the past commands the future. He who commands the future conquers the past."_

---

The commander stood on the ground surrounding the strange mech that had arrived under mysterious circumstances. Its distinctive paint style spoke volumes of the mentality of its pilot, but did little to reveal its story, or history. Even though his men were examining every inch of it, each new discovery had brought further mysteries. Its pilot, half-dead from the trip, had only recently regained consciousness, and was now being questioned and integrated.

The initial findings about confirmed the commander's initial suspicions; that it was at heart a Glorft mech, that it had been retrofitted to some extent with Earth Coalition technology, specifically a hyperlight jump generator for FTL travel, advanced weapon systems that were a mismatch of Glorft and EC technology, parts of what appeared to date from the late 20th century Earth technology were grafted on, and at its heart, a temporal distortion device that in theory could allow its user to jump between points of time in the same matter as a faster-than-light starship could jump between points of space.

The commander continued in his musings as he began to encircle the strange mech who's only identification was _Megas_. Possibilities whirled through his mind at the speed of light, and yet he kept coming to the same conclusion over and over again; that Avenger's attempt to alter history four years ago had not been a complete failure as he had previously suspected. However, if that was the case, where exactly had this mech gone, and where was its original pilot ...

"Commander?"

Steiner's voice snapped the commander out of its twisted trains of thought and back into reality. He glanced at the balding gray haired man before returning his attention to the blue mech beside him.

"Yes, caption?"

"We've finished our initial integration of the prisoner, and finished the blood work. He's human alright, but what he's told us isn't making a lot of sense, sir."

"How so?"

"Well, he claims to be from the early 21st century, he found the mech buried in a junkyard in a place called Jersey City, and that he managed to repair it to operational status"

"Our own scans confirm that quite a few pieces of technology dating to that era are present in Megas."

"Indeed, sir, but it seems unlikely that someone from such a primitive era could not only repair 31st century technology, but alien as well. It just doesn't seem possible, sir. That being said ..."

"That being said, what?"

The caption scratched the back of his neck, a telltale sign to the commander that whatever it was, it was making Steiner uncomfortable. One look from the commander however unglued Steiner's tongue.

"He's been making references to things like the Glorft, Warmaster Gorrath, the _Kranjor_, and ... the _Megas_'s original pilot, Commander Andru ..."

The commander changed to one of confusion and curiosity.

"Commander Andru?"

"Commander, third-class, Kiva Andru. She was our squad leader on-board the _Avenger_ and after Caption Anderson's death ..."

"Curious ... it seems your previous CO survived her encounter with the timestream."

"It seems so, sir, if we can trust this stranger. I mean, on one hand, he clearly knows about things only a handful of people in Known Space should about, and we have those sensor readings we picked up just before he dropped in,but on the other hand, if we take what he has said as fact, if we accept that Glorft were in Earth's past ..."

"If the Glorft have indeed gained the ability to traverse time and space, then a frighting new chapter of subjugation of sentient spaces has just begun ..."

Steiner involuntarily shivered; the thought itself was scary enough, but if it had even a glimmer of truth behind it, then the worst was yet to come.

"What bothers me have evidence that backs up and yet also seemingly debunks our guest's story. On one hand, we have a modified prototype mech, and an individual with knowledge of events he shouldn't have. On the other, we have the improbability of a Glorft mothership operating in Earth's past, and seemingly having the possibility of being able to timeshift freely between the past and the future."

"If the Glorft were in Earth's past, why not subjugate the planet then and there, why wait a thousand years for the Earth Coalition to form, and spread throughout the Core Worlds, and the Zone of Alienation, why wage five decades worth of war?"

"We're missing something Steiner, we only have pieces of this puzzle, and no clear image of what we're seeing. The only source of answers we have now is in that lone pilot ..."

---

"So no sign that the Glorft detected us or our friend's arrival?"

"Not as far as I can tell, but those patrols are getting closer each day. I'm not sure how long we can stay here before one of their mechs gets lucky and pierce our cloaking shield ..."

"Agreed ... have Reggie go through the records, and see if we can come up with any other good candidates to set up shop... Anyway, caption, how's our guest?"

"He's doing much better then when he first arrived. Doc says he'd like to keep him under observation for a bit longer, but otherwise is giving him a clean bill of health."

"Excellent. I've just been reading your reports and transcripts. I'm curious, how well did you know Commander Andru?"

"I served with her for three years, I was with her on the line after our original CO was killed. She took command of the _Avenger_ afterward, and lead our resistance cell. She had an incredible tactician mind, and incredibly gifted in the pilot's seat, to the point of being a living legend."

"So you've said before, but what was she like as a person?"

The caption stared blankly for a moment before responding.

"Well .... she was very strict, very determined, with a fierce temper ... but always distant, and cold; its like she went out of her way to avoid bonding with members of her unit. I mean, every once in awhile, there was a lighthearted moment between all of us, but ..."

"But?"

"Well, we all have seen our share of horrors, some of us more than others, but she had a very ... I dunno how to describe it ... dead, maybe, look to her. Like someone sucked out all the humanity she had, but that was the one thing she was ever defensive about ..."

"Defensive?"

"I, um ... how to put this ... we all have things that bother us, but Andru never seemed to let anything get on her nerves, I mean, even when everything seemed to be the darkest, she just kept going. I mean, I remember being a civilian, that I had things that would drive me insane like having a comfortable place to stay, or worrying about money."

"And after becoming a solider?"

"That none of that mattered, that they were really insignificant compared to everything else. Yeah, that's how I would put it. No matter how bad it got, she always seemed to treat it as being insignificant. Well, except when someone voiced their opinion on her mannerisms. It was the only time I ever saw her get defensive. I mean, I knew bits about her past, I saw the scars, but she wasn't the only one in our unit to survive the camps ..."

"Camps? She was a camp surviver? Which one?"

"I don't know, she never talked about it except in passing, and I never felt comfortable enough to pry, even if I was second-in-command. I dunno, I've met other camp survivors, but none quite like her, I didn't know what to make of it, still don't actually ..."

"The Kiva Andru described in these reports and the one you just described sound like two very different people."

"I dunno what to think sir, there are similarities, especially in personality, but if you had knew her, I suspect you would be wondering if those bits of her personality even existed to begin with ..."

---

The blond haired pilot felt his sanity slowly draining away. He had lost track of how long he had been left in this dark dungeon to rot. He wasn't even quite sure when or where he was, it had all gone very fuzzy. Flashes of memory allowed him to retain the most relevant bits of history; the Guardian, traveling the timestream, seeing time itself loose meaning, and the feeling of 'true' perspective being forced on him. He remembered the Glorft, Kiva, the will to survive.

Then nothing. It went all blank, until he woke up here, wherever here is. For what Coop assumed was days, he lay lying down, feeling sick and weak, as if every bit of his strength had been sapped in the fight to survive, the fight to arrive at the point where he could change things for the better. He began to slowly recover, he answered their questions asked of him, he recounted what was almost a decade worth of memories, from the discovery of Megas, to Kiva's arrival, to battling the Glorft, to traversing the timestream, to finding his way here; he told it all. He had yelled and screamed about finding her, and the Glorft, but it had been to no avail. He fought for answers, but each question fell by the wayside to his captures.

Today had started out much like the previous days. He'd eat something that was somewhat resembled food, having long discovered that complaining as it were would get him nowhere. The guards around the door would watch him silently. Then a gray haired man would sit down, and the process of integration would begin anew. As he finished the ration packs, Coop silently waited for the door to open, and for history to yet again repeat itself.

As if almost on queue, the nob of the door turned, and swung open. However, instead of the gray-haired interrogator, a figure best described as a towering browned haired fox wearing a old-fashion fedora and a long ponytail entered in his place. His mismatched eyes glanced at the blond before turning to the guards.

"Leave us"

Both guards saluted, and exited out the portal the fox had just entered.

"I apologize for the warm welcome you received. You'll understand if we had to be sure of your story."

He took the empty seat at the table, and now gave Coop his undivided attention with his set of mismatched eyes.

"We had to be sure you see. The glorft would love an opportunity to slip a collaborator into our ranks. Your story was somewhat ... difficult to believe, but the material evidence backs up your claim. I do hope you don't take it personally ..."

Parker glanced at the data pad he was carrying.

"Coop, is it?"

The blond mulled over the fox's statements. He remembered Kiva had treated him like this once long ago. It stand to reason that other members of the EC would as well. If one thing Kiva had managed to get him to do, if grudgingly, is swallow your pride for the greater good. The fox stretched out a hand, which the blond stared at, before gingerly taking it.

"Yeah, and you are?"

"Oh, my apologizes. Name's Parker."

"Parker?"

"Well officially speaking, I'm Fleet Commander James Monroe Parker of the Earth Coalition, but thats a mouthful to say, so everyone calls me Parker."

Coop blinked at the name for a moment before writing it off, and responding.

"Fleet Commander? Sounds important ..."

"Well, not so much anymore. No fleet you see. Anyway, I suspect your tired of this room, care to walk with me?"

Jumping at a chance to be liberated, the blond followed the commander out the door and down the hall way"

"So, who are you guys? I mean, I already figured out your members of the EC but ..."

"We're members of the underground. Fighting to stay alive, to be free. Dreaming of a better tomorrow, its all we have left ..."

"After you lost the war?"

"The war is never lost as long as people remain to keep fighting . Remember that, Coop. As long as we don't give up, we haven't lost yet."

The blond reflected on these words; it reminded him of how Kiva thought, and her dedication to returning to the future. These folks here had seen the worst of it, and yet kept fighting for their right to survive as a people.

"How long have you been here?"

"Since the Battle of the Last Stand, I assume you know what that is ..."

"Uh ..."

Although Kiva had given him a cliff notes version of the future, he had never asked for a detailed history of events yet to come, something that he was regretting as he spoke with the commander.

"For a time traveler, one would think you'd at least know how things played out."

"I don't really 'do' history, if you catch me drift."

The fox shook his head.

"The Battle of the Last Stand was the final clash between the Earth Coalition, and the Glorft Armada. We lost, and what was left of the EC was destroyed. The survivors of my crew, the _Unrelenting Nemesis_ founded this group. We've been here ever since."

Coop felt his throat tighten up suddenly. If he understood that right then ...

"I see ... so that means ..."

"It's been seven years since the Last Stand. Today's date is September 15th, 3041. As far as we can tell, Commander Andru attempt to change history took place four years ago."

"God damn it ... God fucking damn it ..."

His eyes darted resolutely to the floor. He had missed the mark, ended up too far into the future. He couldn't change the outcome of the Earth-Glorft war from where he was now. He felt nauseous, and sick. He had now failed Kiva twice, once in preventing the _Kranjor _from time shifting, and yet again in missing the one point in history where he could have stopped this horrible future from turning out the way it had. There was only one thing left to do, and to do that, he needed his ride ...

Parker watched this display until Coop managed to regain his composure. He could understand the feeling of failing that Coop must be feeling, and the drive to correct whatever wrongs he had to. He was already expecting Coop's next question when he finally managed to ask it.

"What happened to Megas?

"It's in the launch bay. My crews have managed to repair most of the damage it sustained in the time stream and in its battles with the Glorft, at least as much as they can."

"I see ... uh, thank you."

He was unaccustomed to someone else beside him or Kiva making repaired to it, but he had an odd sense, a gut instinct so to speak, that he could trust the fox.

"They were confused on a few things, like on how you apparently managed to repair the ﻿photonic stabilizer or how you even managed to build the control system ..."

Coop cut him off mid-sentence.

"I *really* hate to sound ungrateful, especially given the amount of work you had to put in, but I need to find Kiva, find a way to go back, and fix this mess, and I can't do that while I'm sitting around here ..."

Parker looked at him right in the eye.

"I see ... let me show you something first before you go anywhere then."

"Show me what?"

"You'll see ..."

The duo walked in silence as Parker lead the way along roww of empty offices, built in an era long past, and for previous wars long fought. The entire bunker had an air of emptiness to it, as if it was crying out to be occupied; a feeling which seemed to grow as the two men marched further and further away from the common areas. Parker opened a large steel door at the end of the hallway, and lead Coop onto a metal stairway. Without a word, he began the vertical ascent.

"Where are we going?"

Once again, the command remained dead silent, only stopping at the top most landing, and manually working a set of levels mounted on yet another metal door. There was a hissing sound as if a vent had opened somewhere, and the large metal door swung open, allowing light to shine in.

As he stepped through the door, he blinked several times, partially because of the light, and partially because he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The blond-haired pilot staggered backwards, nearly collapsing to the ground. It was simply too much to take in.

"What ... what the hell?!"

"After the fall of each colony, the Glorft began to strip mine planet after planet, consuming resources to build their war machines, to power their leader's mad desires. Alpha Centuari, Proxmi, Luna, Mars, all of them them same as Earth. They enslaved us, destroy everything in their path, and this ... this is the end result, Mr. Coopwiski. This is the future your friend tried to change, this is the future we're doomed to if we stop fighting."

The grey-green skies, the sicking smell of ash, soot and burning flash, the decaying skeletal remains of what once were proud skyscrapers, the remains of human bodies littering the ground, unmoving winds was combined with the feeling of walking through a graveyard. It was too much for Coop; who doubled over, and was suddenly relieved of his lunch. Parker paid him no attention, and continued on as he surveyed the carnage.

"I'm sorry you have to see this for yourself, but you need to know what is at stake. I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but we searched for both Commander Andru, and the _Kranjor. _No one has seem them from this time period. since they both disappeared four years ago. They could be in the past, they could be in the future, or they could be in the present, and simply out of sight. There is no way to know."

"What ... what do you want from me?"

"Your assistance. The massacre before you is playing out on dozens of worlds, humanity was just another link in a long chain. Soon, very soon, I fear that the Glorft will launch an assault on the Galactic Protectorate itself. Trillions of lives lie in the balance from that fact alone. You have personally experienced the power of time travel; now imagine the Glorft with such power. Imagine this scene here across the galaxy, sentient beings exterminated in their distant pasts. Imagine a galaxy where everyone is enslaved, where no one has ever had a taste of freedom, a galaxy where servitude is the norm, with everyone working for a brighter Glorft future. It would be an unparalled orgy of death. That's the future that lays ahead unless we can change it ..."

"W-wha-what can I do? I'm just a guy from Jersey ..."

"Never underestimate the power of an individual. Remember, every great journey begins with a single step. I'm offering you a chance to fight on the side of righteousness, a chance to change this bleak past. I'm offering you a chance to fight ..."

Coop stared at the commander before gazing over scorched earth. He was waging a battle, and it wasn't clear which side was going to win. On one side, a strong force that represented his loyalty and responsibilities to others was drawing him towards Kiva, feeling the need to find her, to rescue her, to help her correct what went wrong. She had been a constant in his life; the one thing he could depend on, and the one person who hasn't abandoned him yet. He had no idea where or when she was, but he felt the need to tear the multiverse apart until he found her.

On the other hand, another part that represented his need to right wrongs, to fight for justice, to be a hero was for staying here, joining the commander, and fighting the Glorft. This half of him was aware that another trip through time would always certainly be a death sentence. This side of him vocalized what Kiva's reaction would be; that fighting the Glorft was greater than anything else. Parker's words compounded it; it wasn't just a matter of him, his world, or his species. It was a matter of the freedom of all sentient beings in the galaxy; it was a matter of a persons right life, to live it to the fullest, to enjoy monster truck shows, and eat pizza with friends. It was a matter of the needs of the many over the needs of a few.

He couldn't find a balance, both sides of him were tearing themselves trying to find a common ground between these two apposing ideals. He had to ask, he had to know.

"One question ... if I go with you, is there a chance we might run into her?"

Parker gazed at Coop with an indeterminate look before turning his attention to the ruined surroundings.

"Anything is possible. Some things are probable. This is what is. We will, as we always have, continue to deal with what is until one of is no more ..."

It wasn't much, but he had to take it. The peace treaty was signed, both sides were appeased, and the battle was over. He would fight as he always had, until he found what he was looking for.

---

End of Chapter 8.

A/N: *phew* Another one done. So, four years old, probably averaging two chapters a year, which sucks. But I've done three chapters this year so far, so the average is going up. Maybe I'll finish before 2015.

As I said before, I find writing from Coop's perspective to be much more difficult then writing from the perspective of either Goat or Kiva. That being said, I think I managed to stick to his mindset fairly well this time around. He's a changed man being around Kiva all these years, so its become a blending of thought between how she would think (or Coop's perspective of her mind), and his own. I think I managed to strike that balance quite nicely. I do worry the initial conversation between Parker and Coop might have been a little rough and possibly slightly out of character; its hard to judge just how much Coop has changed. If people feel I went too far out of character, leave a comment, and I'll look at revising this chapter again. *sigh*

I considered adding another flashback/forward scene as per the last chapters, but I felt it was an overload for this chapter; we've also introduced our last main character, and one of the few recurring characters who will be reappearing from time to time. On another note, I changed the chapter name from what I said it would be. Actually, the chapter remained Scorched Earth right before it was posted, then as the last moment, I realized the focus of this chapter was Coop's decision, and the events that lead up to him making it, and not the end results of the Glorft occupation. The next two chapter names are more revealing then most, but I figure its worth tipping my hand on this one. Chapter 9 is tentatively called "Proving Ground", and Chapter 10 will be more than likely be called "The Unyielding Absolution" due to the events that I have planned out in it. As an addition note, I might have to split "Proving Ground" into two chapters, if that's the case, then the new Chapter 10 may be called "First Movement"

Finally, one final note on the opening quote. Originally, this quote was "Each great journey begins with a single step", but I think the new quote more apporately reflects the end results of the Glorft having time shifting technology.


	9. GAIDEN: Revelance of Beauty

A/N: I have an incredible ability to loose draft chapters *sigh*, this is the SECOND time I've written this chapter. Anyway, this is a side story to the main Timeshift timeline that's fleshes out more of our favorite characters, while working off the themes we saw in Chapters 4 & 5. The first part is set before the start of the main story, while the second part is set in-between the second and third chapters. I decided I wanted to take a little time to flesh out more of Kiva's mental state, as we only saw one side of her personality during the intro, and for the time being the mainline story is focusing on Coop (who I still find very difficult to write for). This should also give you some clues of what to expect in the near future, and I look forward to people scrubbing this chapter, ripping apart every little detail.

Timeshift Gearshift GAIDEN: The Relevance of Beauty

---

"_Understanding is a three-edged sword. Your side, their side, and the truth. Sometimes a change in perspective will then allow you to see the forest among the trees ..."_

_---_

The redheaded pilot felt her rage and anger building. This was simply unacceptable, completely and absolutely unacceptable. She couldn't understand what the hell was going through Coop's mind with this betray, this desertion and dereliction of duty was so far over the line that she couldn't even see straight. In her time, such an mutinous act would be publishable by death. How could that idiot think that taking Earth's only line of defense to a-

She consulted the note once again before continuing on her mental rant.

-gaming convention could be a good idea! To say she was pissed was an understatement, and her frustration with being stranded in this infernal time period continued to rise. A small, more rational voice in the back of her mind began the long and audacious task of trying to rationalize the events around her.

She knew that the blond idiot would have at the very least brought her along under most circumstances. Memories of the various roadtrips taken over the years flashed back with her, with the one to Las Vegas coming to the forefront of her mind. The question of why was quickly answered as the mental image of Jamine flashed through her mind. The useless greaseball that oftentimes convinced Coop to do things that could at best could be considered unwise and at worst of times be down right dangerous and selfish.

She had long ago simply learned to ignore him, and bite her tongue whenever the urge kill him aroused itself. Coop wouldn't listen to any badmouthing of his "best" friend, and having the blond angry at her simply made her life more difficult.

The redhead inhaled deeply, and began to slowly count backward from ten, trying to regain the balance and piece of mind required in her lines of work.

_Ten ... nine ..._

Fine, Coop is gone with Megas. I can't do anything to change that. Calling him on the radio short of an emergency will just annoy him.

_Eight ... seven ..._

He promised to respond if the Glorft reappear, and that he would keep an open comm link for emergency purposes only for her.

_Six ... five ..._

He always said he got good at being a pilot from gaming, maybe it will be effective training ...

_Four ... three ..._

Jamine isn't here to annoy me.

_Two ... one ..._

I could use some personal time to brush up on my skills

_Zero ...._

Kiva exhaled in one long sigh. The reasons her mind rationalized for her seemed feebly weak, but they were the best she had to work on putting the mos optimistic spin on a bad situation. A moment passed by in silence before the redhead noticed something red drip onto her boot. A quick glance at her hand revealed the source; In her rage, she had successfully managed to dig her nails so deep that she managed to draw blood which had run down the length of her arm and began to drip onto the floor.

Swearing under her breath, and she began grabbing paper towels from the counter to clean up the floor and her blood-soaked hand. Several minutes ticked by as she mopped up her hand, her arm, her boot, and the floor, only broken by the squelch of wood floors taking the wood of the only other living person in the house; Miss Coopawiski. A moment passed as the mousy-haired figure stepped into the kitchen. The elder women's eyes immediately fell on the redhead, and the blood-soaked paper towel in her hand. The redhead stammered something about nicking herself, not willing to reveal just how Coop managed to get under skin.

"Would you like some tea? I was just about to brew some ..."

"Uh ... sure ..."

In truth, Kiva had no true desire for the beverage, but the redhead was desperate to find a moment of mental peace. The elder women waved the younger women into the lounge which she dutifully complied. Once in the lounge, the young solder sat down non-censoriously in one of the mismatch chairs that littered the lounge, and took to her usual hobby of gazing out the window, admiring the blue skies and birds chippering that had been destroyed in the name of progress by the Glorft.

Each moment of time passed forward was like an eon to the solder who's eyes beheld an experience that far surpassed her ﻿thirty-three years of life. Eyes that had lost her parents, her family, who had been tortured, beat, enslaved, abused, fight, and seen death. Sometimes, she wasn't sure if she is a human who acts like a machine, or a machine who wishes it is human. Why was the blond able to get under her skin like no one else could; it wasn't like her to loose her cool like this and what was this feeling that had managed to well up in her chest that dragged her down ...

"Here you go, dear"

The redhead jumped; she had been focused so inward at her own failings that she had failed to notice the elder women approaching.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Kiva. Your tea is ready."

"Oh .. thank you ..."

"Something on your mind?"

"Just ... stuff ..."

She winced at herself for being vague, it reminded herself too much of her adoptive father. It was one of his most infatuating traits.

"What stuff?"

"Just ..."

"It's Coop, isn't it?"

Kiva felt that unpleasant sensation that she was under a microscope. Gearing into action, her mind quickly calculated her options and possibilities. After a moments deliberation, she had come to her course of action.

"Yeah ... It's just ..."

Words kept failing her, but the gray haired women was able to easily fill in the blanks.

"Coop has always been one to be a bit impulsive. Just like his father before him ..."

"His father?"

Gloria looked over at one of the many pictures before reaching out and grabbing one off the shelf. After a moment of reminiscing at it, she passed it to the redhead. The picture had a younger Miss Coopawiski standing next a man with blond hair, a strong chin and blue eyes who Kiva gathered was Coop's father. A very young Coop was perched on his shoulders. His shirt bore the logo of the Jersey City Fire Department. In the background, a second man who almost seemed to blend into the background bore the same logo on his polo shit. He with long brown hair which appeared to be pulled into a ponytail, and an old brown fedora completed the look.

"Victor, my husband and his best friend visiting the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in the city. One of the few pictures that I still have of us as a family ..."

A moment of silence passed before Kiva broke it again.

"Both my son and his father had a tendency do what they think is right instinctively, to leap without looking and to do so regardless of the cost ..."

Kiva pondered for a moment; she could easily see several of those traits in Coop, but her certainty on him having those traits wavered in favor of the belief that he gave the appearance of those traits; did he actually do what he thought was right, or did he do what he wanted to do? On one had, he never was content leaving something he saw as wrong alone, but was that because it was the right thing to do, or was it what he wanted to do. For instance, he took off for that convention because he wanted to do so, not because it was the right thing to do despite his responsibilities. As the redhead mulled over this line of thought, a more pressing question raised itself in her mind.

"What happened to him?"

"Died in the line of duty ..."

"I'm sorry ..."

The elder women smiled at the younger one, and then stared out the window before continuing.

"It was an early winter that year. I was home with Coop, he mustn't have been much older than seven or eight at the time. Victor had just come home from work when the carrier callback came in for a four-story structure fire. Being the dutiful man he was, he responded to the call. On scene, reports of people trapped came in. He teamed up with the Lieutenant and made entry to try and get those poor souls out. They were sweeping floor by floor when on the third floor they came across a scared child and his mother. As they made it to the second floor, the building starting coming down. Victor pushed all of them down the stair well a moment before the ceiling came down. All three of them made it out with relatively minor injuries, but my husband paid the ultimate price for it."

Kiva sat in complete silence. She was well familiar with the dead heroes that littered the pages of history yet to be written. She knew and served along side many of them. Victor Coopawiski was a volunteer firefighter, a good father, and a serviceman, just like herself. He chose to put his boots on the line, knowing the full risks. She didn't know his motivation for joining the fire department, but she could guess. He responded because he knew his duty, and he knew the risks, and despite a family, he went and he paid the price.

It was a moment before she realized Gloria had started talking again.

"- sends money once in awhile when he can afford to, and tries to see how I'm doing. I think he holds himself responsible; survivors guilt you know. Coop won't have anything to do with him. I think, justified or not, he blames the lieutenant for my husbands death since he was the one who made the judgment call to make entry that fateful night."

Gloria broke off looking out the window and turned to face Kiva.

"He may not show it, but deep down, Coop has the uppermost suspect for you."

Kiva blinked in confusion; if nothing else, she had always felt the opposite due to his lack of seriousness on anything with respect to preparation and the such.

"Oh, yes dear. Coop grew up in a world where serving was the way of life. After his fathers death, he rebelled, and I ... I wasn't there for him like I should. He understands your world as a solder, but he was someone who wanted to remain in the shadows, not someone who was the hero saving other people's lives."

***

The conversation was still weighing on Kiva's mind days later. In light of new perspective, she had began mentally revisiting her many memories of Coop and Jamie and reexamining them under a new light. She could see the points Gloria had made during her conversations, but still remained unconvinced of this so called 'respect' that Coop supposedly had. On the flip side, she could easy see where he would do what he thought was right, the sense of being a hero, of fighting for what was right.

It allowed to understand her student better, and understand his recent actions with traveling to the far side of the world. Kiva often knew that she came of as stubborn, and headstrong to her subordinates and superiors, but she wasn't above changing her methodology in light of new information; it was her ability to adapt to the new and changing fields of combat that had dotted her life that had allowed her a chance at staying alive.

How she would put this new information to use still remained an open question, but one she had plenty of time to ponder upon. A slightly ugly truth had raised its head in light of Kiva's Coop-less present; she had nothing to do, and it had slowly been taking her toll on her, leaving her increasingly restless and frustrated. Finally, on the fifth day, she simply set out of the house in search of anything to allow her some reprieve from her boredom.

Over the weekend, posters and flyers had gone up adversing the new displays at the New York Botanical Gardens. On Glora's suggestion, the redheaded women donned a light windbreaker, and made her way into the city via public transportation, making each transfer as she made her way along the many arteries and veins that laced the metropolis. At its heart lay Grand Central Terminal, which from there lead her to a Metro-North Harlem River Line train that crawled its way from the Bronx before eventually arriving at the aptly named Botanical Gardens station.

Upon paying the admission fee and entering into the first atrium, she observed the many different shows of colors, and arrays of beauty painstaking setup by hand; a display that she had never been able to witness or appreciate in her own time due to more pressing concerns. Walking among the many isles and arrangements of flowers gave the weary solder a sense of peace she seldom experienced in her years of life.

It was a place where life and nature intertwined with each other, creating a balance of the elements that she had never experienced before. It also deepened her resolve for fighting for the future. Her main drive to fight Glorft was one of vengeance and revenge, for what was done to her, what they did to her family. Although she knew the greater reasons for fighting in the war, but she had never understood what they meant specifically; she had never had an opportunity to experience a life where one could find a true serenity like she was experiencing right now. A relaxed pace slowly wrapped and enveloped her until she was apart of the flow of the life around her.

As she wandered throw the gardens, she felt the true weight of what she was fighting for don apart on her, nothing like this existed in her world; it had all been destroyed in numerous battles, the serenity of life, and the feeling of peace was gone unless she could do something to change it. It deepened and increased her resolve to change what once went wrong in the series of events that defined her future. In the coming years, Kiva would venture to these gardens alone many more times as a place where she alone could find something she desperately lacked; peace.

It was on one of these trips years later when she encountered an unexpected visitor to the gardens.

****

"Kiva?"

The redheads attention immediately popped to the front her mind, and turned looking for the person who called her name. After a moment of searched, her eyes fell on the scruffy figure that comprised Goat.

"Goat? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, I didn't expect to see you here of all places ..."

"The feeling is mutual, I didn't see you as a someone who would visit the Botanical Gardens ..."

"Heh, well, truth be told, I've come here on and off for years, its one of those places that you know, you can find peace ..."

Kiva smirked; she completely understood that feeling that Goat described, although she had trouble envisioning the laid back garbage man as an individual of lacking peace. After a few moments of small talk, she lead the way to one of the tables that had been setup in the corner and took one of the open seats; Goat unceremoniously filled the remaining one.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you or Coop, how have things been?"

"Not well, he's hitting the bottle again ..."

Goat sighed. He wasn't very surprised, but a sense of optimism that had survived the war had hoped the situation had changed.

"I've known Coop for years, I've never seen him like this, not even when his dad died did he come apart like this ..."

"I just wish I could do something ..."

"It must be very hard, being in that house all alone for all those years ..."

Kiva felt her cheeks flush for a moment, and instinctively jerked her head downwards causing her bangs of hair to fall forward and obscure her face from Goat.

"I just do what I can, what else am I supposed to do ..."

"So what happened?"

"Huh?"

"Your here for a reason ..."

Kiva blinked before staring Goat in the eye. In the years of knowing the old trash man, the redhead was convinced he was either telepathic, or had successfully managed to install spy cameras all throughout Jersey City without anyone knowing, and had a constant eye on her day-to-day activities due to his uncanny ability to know what was on her mind. She just sighed deeply.

"He went off again. Real bad this time, shouting, screaming. I just stood there as he leveled the den. Couldn't do anything, or say anything or ..."

The redhead sighed again; it had become her trademark action when describing Coop recently.

"He blamed you, didn't he?"

Kiva didn't even bother looking up this time although she did make a mental note to check for those spy cameras when she got home.

"Yeah ... Blamed me for crashing on his life, for Megas, for everything that's gone wrong, for a whole list of things ..."

"Christ, and you just stood there and said nothing?"

"What the hell was I supposed to do? Snap back and start brawling with him? Yell at him to deal with his life? Or accept that he was right? What the fuck was I supposed to do, Goat?"

She was looking down on him, unaware that she was now standing and several people were staring at her outburst. She shook her head and sat back down in her chair, and buried her face in her hands.

"Sorry ..."

"No, I shouldn't have responded like that, but thats too far, even for Coop ..."

"What if he's right though, that my presence precipitated these events?"

Goat looked at the increasing destitute state of his friend, her self-confidence was wavering because she couldn't see if she was responsible, or if she had made a mistake. She was a former solder like himself, an inhuman machine who had never had the experience of a normal life that he had experienced. He had no doubt that she must have often times woke in the dead of night from the horrors that haunts her darkest dreams. He also knew that she sorely lacked a strong understanding of inter-human relationships.

Duty had kept her by Coop's side for the last decade, but he was no longer sure if it was the duty that she felt the future owed, or the duty that Coop would be alone if she abandoned him; he grimly admitted that he was not in a position where he would be able to help; Coop had clamped down upon himself, and Kiva was the only one who even stood a chance at getting close. He was sure though that Coop would likely try and drag Kiva down with him as he slowly approached rock bottom.

The redhead was strong willed, and greatly determined with a fierce passion to back it, but she had a fragility to herself that she tried to hide in her tough exterior; Goat grimly thought of the many cases of battered women he had read about in the news papers and in books. In his current state, Coop would lash out at anyone, and Kiva, for her own reasons and her own bullheadedness would take that upon herself and refuse to leave. This repeated abuse would then slowly wearing her gruft exterior until there was nothing left.

"You can't blame yourself for this; Jamine chose to leave on his own, and you were not responsible for Gloria's death; hell, if anything is responsible, its me for introducing Coop and Jamine in the first place."

The redhead just sighed, she wasn't very interested in repeating this conversation.

"I know ..."

A moment of silence passed over the two deposition friends who reflected on those close to them, and the series of events that linked and intertwined them all. After a few minutes, Kiva finally broke the silence.

"You never did explain why you are here ..."

"Oh ... heh, well, I come here to try and clear my head. I find I can relax here, and see that this world has the offer ..."

Kiva looked up at the brown-headed man.

"I know the feeling, I came here on Gloria's advice, and well ... I'm still here today. Its ..."

"Its the beauty, we're surrounded by it and as solders it helps remind of that we're not only alive, but for what we fought for in the end ..."

Kiva just shrugged slightly. It almost seemed to Goat that her will had reached its limits, and she was slowly but surely burning out. Several moments ticked by before the redhead finally spoke.

"Maybe it helps us relax because its the one thing we've lost; without things like beauty, what point is there of fighting?"

It was Goat's turn to blink; it was rare when the redhead gave such insight into the world; he had assumed that she either had no opinion, or had no reason to express it.

"If your interested, I can give you a lift home and we can go get pizza on the way. Maybe even try and entice Coop out."

Kiva weakly smiled at the garbage man, one of the rarest gestures he had ever made her see. It brought her face to life in a way that was almost indescribable, and gave her entire appearance a radiant glow.

"That sounds good .... although I'd kinda just like to keep it between us, I'd ..."

"I understand ..."

As the two got up, and started heading towards the exit, Goat made one final comment.

"I'd kinda appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Coop, he'd never let me live it down ..."

"Heh, I know what you mean. Your secret safe as long as you keep mine of course."

"Deal ... now, lets go eat."

As the left, Kiva felt an unusual sense of burden lifting, as she was able to get her mind off Coop, and socialize with what she would eventually realize as her only other true friend from this time period who could also understand her view on the world due to their similiar and yet dissimilar views on the world and their senses of duty that had compiled into the courses they took for life.

***

A/N: WOOO, Finally done. A nice side story in this universe, and I think some of the best writing I've ever done. Writing Goat and Kiva really puts me in a good mood, and I really really really hope you, my all important readers enjoy this. I will work on continuing the mainline story, but now that I've gotten this out of my system, I think the work will progress much much faster. Also, first chapter to break 4,000 words, YAY!


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